CSBG Archive

Comic Book Six Degrees: Manhunter 2070 to Angie Thriller

I name two comic book characters. You then have to connect the two using only shared appearances in comic books (official appearances in comics only – no cameos like Terry Austin sneaking Popeye into the background of a panel and no outside comic book appearances, like cartoons and the like). You have to do so using less than six comics total. Covers and pin-ups do not count – only actual appearances in the same comic book story (so it doesn’t count if they each appeared in separate stories inside the same anthology). Mythological characters, public domain characters and real people (by the way, unless a fake name is used for a real person, like Ronald Raygun or whatever, you can use the person even if they are not officially named in the comic) are unique to their own comic book appearances (so DC’s Thor is different than Marvel’s Thor, DC’s Ronald Reagan is different from Marvel’s Ronald Reagan, etc.). But a licensed character is the same in all of their various comic book companies (so the Marvel Red Sonja is the same as the Dynamite Red Sonja) and approved appearances by a real person can go across comic book companies, as well (so, for instance, you can use Marv Wolfman from his Teen Titans appearance to connect with Marv Wolfman in his Fantastic Four appearance). Approval tends to be the key (except for public figures, of course).

Every week, whoever connects the two characters in the least amount of turns gets to pick the next week’s match- (in the event of a tie, the winner is chosen randomly). Last week was Tom Strong to Strong Guy. buttler was one of a few people who connected the two in four moves. Here is how buttler connected the two…

Tom Strong and the Black Terror were in Tom Strong #12
The Black Terror and Kulan Gath were in Prophecy #1.
Kulan Gath and Rogue were in Uncanny X-Men #191
Rogue and Strong Guy were in Uncanny X-Men #278

buttler’s challenge is…

Manhunter 2070 to Angie Thriller

E-mail me your answers at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Do NOT post your answers in the comments section!

Whoever connects the two characters in the least amount of comics gets to pick the connection for next time around (I’ll pick a random winner in the event of a tie)!

Remember, only authorized appearances in comic books count (for instance, all the Marvel characters in Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck do not count)!

Omar Karindu

If you look back at last week, there was in fact an explicit one-time exception made for public domain characters in this particular challenge. Personally, I do think comic book characters who have fallen into the public domain are a special case, because different versions of the Black Terror aren’t nearly as different as different versions of, say, Dracula, but that’s just my opinion.

I can’t see how ABC or Dynamite could copyright the Black Terror, however. The stories he appears in, sure, but not the character.

Brian Cronin

Yeah, as buttler noted, there was a one-time exception last week to make Black Terror acceptable by the rules. His case for allowing public domain COMIC BOOK characters, though, remains a strong one. I’ll let you folks figure it out here in the comments.

Do you think that public domain comic book characters (characters like the original Daredevil and Black Terror) should count as one character or should they be treated the way I treat other public domain characters like Dracula, Santa Claus and Frankenstein’s Monster, where they are unique to each of their respective universes?

Let me know and I’ll make that be the rule going forward!

Paul

Have to double check my answer, I could only do it in 6 moves, seems there is another way to do it now.
.
As for public domain characters. This is a tough one. Marvel has a Dracula, that I consider their own by now. So shouldn’t be linked to another companies Dracula as the same. However I don’t think Black Terror is different enough to be that limited as Buttler said. So it sounds like something that should be a case by case basis.

Mike Blake

Omar mentioned two connections for that Manhunter to the DCU. I already knew one. But to my amazement I coincidentally got something today that *also* featured him. Serendipity. Of course, I’m not going to say where until this round is solved.

Stephen Conway

Mike Blake

I tried to make your wish come true, but couldn’t quite do it. You see, I used to have a copy of a promo comic done in the 60s by Marvel and ABC promoting their Saturday morning lineup called America’s Best TV Comics. It featured a cut-down version of Lee/Kirby’s Rama Tut story to promote the original FF cartoon, and a Spider-Man story too.

Now I also knew ABC had a Jackson Five cartoon way back then (they spelled it “Jackson 5ive”). My brilliant thought that if the 5ive were in that comic too, connecting to DC through the usual methods would be a snap.

Alas, it turns out the comic is from 1967, and the Jackson 5ive cartoon started in 1971. Oh well, I tried.

By the way, the Wiki article is wrong in one respect: I bought mine from the spinner rack at a drug store, not through the mail.

Well, my sloth about recreating the new site aside, since I’m “Mr. Thriller” on the Net I’m embarrassed to admit I have no clue what the connection could be…probably because I never read Manhunter 2070. The only thing I know about that one is that Mike Sekowsky did the art.

Where/when will the answer appear?

John King

My vote for allowing public domain characters created for the comics medium to count as the same character as
i) they are consistent as other comic characters (unlike other public domain characters)
ii) requiring people to remember which characters are public domain or not adds an unnecessary extra complication for people trying to connect

Johny – AN answer will appear in the next six degrees (on 4th February or shortly afterwards).
I can see a number of 4 step connections (I don’t know of any better…and have not included Michael Jackson)
(note this is comic book 6-degrees where characters are connected by linking them to other characters who appeared in the same comic…not the cover theme game…just in case you misunderstand)